


Undercover For A Cat

by XxKilledbyMusicxX



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Highschool AU, M/M, Shiro's mentioned a couple of times, also was suppose to be for a friend, and i still suck at using this site so fuck it, and that's all that matters, and well, barista keith, but keith is a sap, eh, i wrote this with no pairings in mind, it kinda shows?, look - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 19:46:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10906224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxKilledbyMusicxX/pseuds/XxKilledbyMusicxX
Summary: Lance just wanted to go visit the new cafe in town- too bad the world had other plans.





	Undercover For A Cat

Of course, Lance had heard about the new cafe only a couple of blocks down the street from the local high school. Who hadn’t by this point? Called “Voltron’s Cafe”, it was a newcomer in a relatively old and connected town, and everyone, down to crazy old Mr. Johnston, was curious (or annoyed, depending on who you were) and then pleasantly surprised by the adorable little shop. Apparently, from what Lance had heard through school gossip and the friendly old ladies that lived on his street, it was filled with almost constantly with the sweet smell of pastries, hot coffee, and, the real selling point for Lance,  _ pictures of adorable widdle kittens _ . So really, it was only natural for him to drag his two best friends down to visit the place. The only real question is why it took so long.

“Lance, can’t you go by yourself?” Pidge protested as they shoved their laptop in their bag. “Not all of us have time to drop everything to visit a stupid cafe!”

Lance waved them off as he bounced on his heels. “Nah, friendo!” He said easily, “First off, it’s an experience, you gotta savour it-”

“By yourself? Cause, this code won’t write itself-”

“- _ With friends.  _ Best friends! Second off, it’s not stupid! The whole town has been there-”

“We haven’t!”

“We’re the only ones, Pidgey!  _ This is an outrage of the highest degree!” _

“...It was worth a shot,” Pidge sighed and tossed their bookbag over their shoulder. “If I have to go, shouldn’t Hunk come along?”

Lance waited until they made it out the door before he followed them down the hall. “Of fucking course he is. He’s super excited to try that raspberry lemon souffle- he’s been talking about it for weeks, you know!”

“...Wasn’t he talking about making it?”

“Details, details- Com’on!”

Pidge yelped as Lance started pushing them down the halls past everyone else. “H-hey! Slow down, Lance!”

Lance saw Hunk looking for them among the crowd of students rushing out of school as the school day ended, and he ran forward, scooping up Pidge as he did so. Pidge screeched as they awkwardly clung to his neck as he weaved in and out of the crowd. Luckily, Hunk noticed them just before they ran into him and  jumped backwards as they burst through the doors; Pidge practically screaming as Lance laughed. They landed in a pile on the sidewalk which earned some strange looks granted, but Lance was used to it by now. He stay where he was, laughing on the ground as Pidge shot him a glare and took Hunk’s offer of a help up. “What? You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that, Pidgerino!”

“I can and I will!” Pidge mocked huffed at him. “Could of have killed us both, you know!”

Hunk stepped in between them, well used to… well. Everything. He tried a patient smile before his face cracked into a grin. “Oh god,” He cackled, “The looks on your faces were  _ priceless _ , but Lance-” he looked a little green when he looked up at his friend. “-Try not to kill me next time?”

“No promises, big guy!”

Hunk sighed. “I was afraid you would say that.” 

Lance laughed as he sat up. “Come on, guys!” He offered, “The cafe only got a limited number of pastries, and if we start moving now then we can get there before everything sells out!”

Lance flipped onto his feet and almost fell over again. Ignoring Pidge’s brief “Ha!”, Lance beamed at his two friends. He noticed Hunk’s face brightened at the mention of the cafe. Ha! Take that, Pidgey! He wasn’t lying about Hunk wanting to go! Hunk laughed, “Then what are we waiting for?”

Lance wrapped an arm around his friends. “That’s the spirit! Was that so difficult?”

“For you, maybe,” Pidge sniped.

“Ouch.” Lance clutched his heart as his friends chuckled. “That really hurt, you jerks!” He gasped as they started walking to the cafe. “Has my best friends, my allies in combat, my companeros, betrayed me to the cruel grasp of sarcasm?!”

Hunk laughed while Pidge merely smirked up at him. “Nooooooo,” Hunk protested as they waited at the stoplight. “Lance, my man, we only want the best for you-” They ran across as soon as a lull in the cars happened, waving sorry to the cars that beeped angrily at them.

“Awwww.”

“-and that means we gotta poke ya sometimes to keep that ego of yours down,” Pidge teased.

“BETRAYAL.”

“Aw, Pidge, come on- give Lance a break!” Hunk chuckled, sweeping Pidge up in hug as the trio moved down. “He’s paying for everything after all!”

Lance, despite his internal fear for his wallet because Pidge was definitely the type to buy the most expensive thing on the menu out of pure spite, played along, seeing the cafe in sight. Sweet, it looks like they made it before the line. “Yea,  _ Pidge _ ,” He laughed, “See if I buy you that espresso I know you desperately want.”

Pidge squirmed out of Hunk’s grasp in mock outrage, and Hunk let them go. “How dare you tread on such sacred ground!” They yelled, laughter in their voice, “Coffee is  _ life _ , you heathen!”

The two bickered the last couple blocks with Hunk interjecting and switching sides every so often. By the time they had reached the cafe, the conversation had moved on from coffee to Lance’s favourite blue pen that went missing in Physics to conspiracy theories to how adorable Hunk’s cat, Melemele, was to muffins. “All I’m saying is, my pal,” Lance said as he opened the door to an adorable little chime, “You can not physically top blueberry muffins, especially not with your disgusting pistachio muffins of all things.”

“First of all, how  _ dare _ you-”

An annoyed voice cut in, and Lance stiffened. “Hi, welcome to Voltron’s Cafe- we don’t feed strays, so unless you’re going to buy something, can you please get the  _ hell out _ ? You’re holding up the line.”

Lance turned, more than a little offended. “Well, gee, you don’t have to be rude about it-” Wait. That annoying as hell smirk. Those eyes.  **_THAT MULLET_ ** _. _ “ _ KEITH!?” _ Lance shrieked.

Hunk choked on nothing while the employee revealed to be Lance’s rival (something Lance had privately declared over a tub of ice cream to Hunk) looked startled. “Who the fuck are you!?” Keith asked bluntly, reaching for something behind him.  
Oh, Lance was just offended. “It’s me, Lance?! Your rival?! We have Physics, AP Calc, and Honors English together?!”

“Wait, hold on a minute?! That’s Keith?!” Hunk said, his eyes jumping between Keith and Lance.

Pidge just looked confused. “Who the fuck is Keith?!”

Keith, still holding on to that pen that dick had apparently stole from Lance during Physics, paused. “Well,” he said, his face unreadable. “ _ Fuck. _ ”

~o~

So it turns out Keith was working part-time here as a barista, and Lance wasn’t entirely sure whether or not that was good or a bad thing. For one, he got to see Keith’s manager, a man named Shiro, come by to reprimand Keith for swearing at customers, and they had managed to get prime seating near the entrance because of it. On the other hand, he was trusting Keith not to fuck him over when he brought his drink over.

Pidge, the little bastard who did buy the most expensive drink on the menu, leaned over the table and stared at Lance. “Sooooo,” they started slowly.

Lance glared at them. “Don’t. Even. Start.” He gritted out, his ears flushing slightly. Oh no. Oh nonononononono- they’ve got that look in their eyes.

“How much do you hate this guy?” Pidge said cheerily, shoving half of the sugar packets into his bookbag.

Before Lance could say anything, Hunk rolls his eyes and leans forward.  _ Hunk, you traitor _ , Lance thinks desperately. But it’s too late for Lance. “He used to come back home swearing angrily at nothing,” Hunk informed Pidge, “Because this one kid got a higher score on a test then he did and bump the curve down just low enough for him not to get the A. After like 3 years, Lance was willing to go through a  _ week of all-nighters to one up this guy. _ ”

“Reeaaaaaallly?” Pidge drawled out, “That sounds like some serious dedication to me, Lancey boy.”

“One,” Lance stated flatly, trying to hide his flaming ears. Damnit, could they not talk about this with the guy like two feet away?! “Never call me that again. Two, I was going through a rough time for the all-nighters thing- Hunk, stop laughing I was having a  _ crisis _ \- and three, yes, I fucking hate him, why shouldn’t I?!”

“I dunno,” Pidge continued to drawl with an ever growing smile on their face. “He’s pretty, smart, clearly your type-”

“Nyma was one time!”

“She was still a bitch.”

“Amen to that,” Hunk murmured.

“Hunk, no.” Lance groaned out, his face making contact with the table. God, somebody kill him now.

“I warned you!”

“I told you I was sorry-!”

Suddenly, a tray slammed down on the table in front of them, and the trio jumped, with Lance’s slamming his knees on the table and him crumpling over in pain. “Keith!” A voice shot out sharply, and the hand hold their tray of drinks twitched. 

Keith sighed and gritted out, “Two Lattes, one mocha-swiss, fudge drizzled large caramel espresso, and one raspberry-lemon souffle.”

Hunk and Pidge cheered as Lance groaned. “Damn you, gremlin,” he got out as he pulled out his credit card and slide it in Keith’s general direction.

But Keith pushed it back with a flush on his face. “Don’t bother. I already paid for it.”

The table stared at him with wide eyes. Lance was confused. “Wh-what man?” Lance sputtered out, gesturing with his hands wildly. Hunk saved his drink luckily though. “Man, I thought you didn’t recognize any of us?!”

Keith rubbed the back of his neck as he held the tray behind him. “...You sounded familiar after you told me-”

“No way man, I’m calling bullshit!” Lance ranted, “Come on, spill! You definitely want something from us!”

“Lance!” Hunk hissed at him as Keith flushed and looked a little angry. But Lance’s next words died on his tongue when he saw the small amount of fear in Keith’s eyes.

“Look,” Keith started angrily, “As long as you keep your mouth shut, everything’s going to be fine, alright-?”

“Whoa, man,” Lance started, “Are you bribing us?”

Keith flushed, and he practically threw his hands up. “What else am I supposed to do?” He hissed back, waving his tray around a little. “I don’t know you, but you know me which means we go to the same school-”

“Oh. Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh.” Suddenly, things made a bit more sense. And looking around the table, it looks like everyone else understood too. Lance supposed it would make sense for Keith to worry. After all, as Keith didn’t hang out with them long enough to realize that wasn’t the type of people they were, and apparently wasn’t a good enough judge of character to realize they’ve done equally stupid shit. Working a job, which was technically against school rules and could get you expelled, was something everyone did. But Keith’s situation, by working in a place that was entirely new, could actually get him caught, so Lance could forgive him for panicking.

Apparently, Hunk, bless his heart, felt the need to reassure Keith that they wouldn’t say a word. “Man, it’s alright- we won’t tell! We’ve certainty done worse, and we’re still in school.”

“By miracles,” Pidge murmured.

“Sssssssssh, Pidgey,” Lance said soothingly, practically lying down on half of the table to reassuringly (or what he considered reassuring) pat Pidge on the shoulder. “What mullet doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Keith was apparently relieved enough to let the mullet comment slide. “R-really?” He said relieved. And Lance won’t lie- his heart kinda melted at the relief in Keith’s eyes. “That’s great, I guess.”

“Why do you even need this job?” Pidge asked curiously, “I mean, you don’t have to answer, but-”

“It’s fine,” Keith replied, and added somewhat awkwardly, “Actually, give me a moment?”

They shrugged, and Keith went off to talk to Shiro in corner. Pidge shot Lance a  _ look _ . Lance shrugged back, and Hunk passed back his coffee with a small hand pat. Lance shot him a glare as Keith came back.  _ And slid into the chair next to Lance?!? _ “Uh…” Keith started looking really out of place, “Do you mind? Shiro said I could take my break, and I owe you guys some explanations-”

Lance, curse his weak heart, nodded. “Y-yea! I-it’s not a problem.” He told himself internally that he was fighting over his feelings of rivalry, but honestly, some people can just pull off an apron really fucking well.

Keith turned back absently and nodded at Hunk and Pidge. Lance was remotely offended, but then again, they were the ones to ask the question. “Look,” he started off all business- ruined entirely about the awkward crack in his voice and the flush on his face. “The shelters are having trouble, and they had this one cat that was causing trouble and everything. They don’t have room for it… so they were going to put it to sleep. And… I happened to be walking home, and it comes running at me?” He shrugged a bit helplessly. 

The trio sat there and stared at him for a little bit. “....wow, you are a  _ sap,”  _ Pidge says flatly. Lance almost breaks down into laughter as Keith flushes angrily. Pidge backpedals a little when they see how uncomfortable Keith is. “No! I mean,” They say hastily, “Don’t take it the wrong way, but most people would have just left it there.”

Keith sighs and places his head on the table. “I should have, honestly,” He grumbles, “Look, what it basically boils down to is that my fosters don’t know we have a cat, and here I am, working at a cafe to pay for what it needs.”

...If that wasn’t the sweetest thing Lance had ever heard from a grumpy asshole then he’s straight. And he’s not. Hunk is waiting for Lance to say something, and Lance is confused- oh. Fuck. Damnit, Hunk. Curse you and your kind heart, and curse Lance’s weakness for grumpy assholes.

“...Does your cat have a name?”

Keith turns his head to face him. “What the fuck does that have to do with anything.”

Lance plays mock-offense, hand on his chest and coffee in the other. “How rude! Here I am, about to make you the offer of a lifetime, and you’re acting like I’m about to shoot you-”

“Are you?” Keith challenges.

Lance sputters. “O-of course not! What kind of person do you think I am?!”

“An asshole.”

“Wow,” Pidge says slowly with a smirking threatening to take over their entire face as Hunk breaks down into laugher. “He summed up your entire personality in a phrase.”

Lance sniffs and flips Pidge off before continuing his sorta-heartfelt speech. “I was  _ going _ to suggest two things. One? You let me pay you back for the food because cats are more important then people-”

“Maaaan, I would be so offended if I didn’t feel the exact same way,” Hunk said cheerfully.

“Love ya too, man,” Lance says at him with wink and fingerguns. Wow, Keith looks confused. Uh, back on track before they confuse the kid further. God, it’s kinda like he didn’t really know how to interact with people much. Which would make sense from what Lance notices at school. Guess aloofness comes from social awkwardness. “And second? My family’s already got a cat at home, so we can have them meet and see if they get along. If they do, you can drop the  _ adorable kitty _ -”

“Don’t say it like that- you make it seem creepy-”

“-off at my place to hide from your fosters, and you can swing by whenever you want to hang out with them!”

It seemed like a foolproof plan to Lance, but Keith still looked doubtful. “And your family won’t mind?”

Lance waved him off. “My mom loves people. And cats. Especially cats. She’ll welcome you both over all the time.”

“What about you?”

“Well,” Lance said, shooting the widest grin he could. “You’ll just have to help me with the physics homework in return, huh?”

And Keith smiled.


End file.
